' Virtual Arrival' presented in Brussels

Published:

30 April 2010 11:30

Updated:

28 September 2011 11:27

The INTERTANKO/OCIMF Virtual Arrival project was presented at a seminar in the European Parliament this week. The seminar was organised by the Transport sub-group of the European Parliament’s Intergroup on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development.The presentation was given by INTERTANKO's Manager of Research and Projects, Erik Ranheim, to a well-attended meeting, which consisted of Members of the European Parliament, representatives from the European Commission, a large number of MEP assistants as well as transport stakeholders.

He opened by saying that the shipping industry is working on the same main means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC): technical, behavioural (operational) and CO2 pricing Market Based Instruments.

However, he went on to say that fuel costs amount to such a high proportion of owners' costs that reducing fuel consumption, and thus reducing emissions, has been high on the shipping agenda for decades.

On the operational logistics side there are many stakeholders involved and there are several commercial and practical obstacles to reducing emissions, such as who should pay for the time, who should pay for the fuel, third party obligations, and contractual implications.

Virtual Arrival implies removing some of these obstacles when the terminal in question is not ready to receive the cargo by the time the ship arrives. Instead of steaming full ahead and dropping anchor to wait for the terminal to be ready, a mutual agreement can be made to reduce speed to adapt the vessel' s to the time when the terminal is ready thereby saving fuel and reducing emissions. The virtual arrival agreement would include a provision for the operator to receive compensation at the demurrage rate for the difference between the time when the ship would have arrived if it had continued at full speed (Virtual Arrival time) and the actual later arrival time.

In addition to reducing emissions the Virtual Arrival would also have other benefits such as.

•Reduced port congestion

•Improved safety

•Reduced congestion and emissions in the port area

•Reduced use of fuels

•Potentially increased use of weather routing (which is a part of SEEMP)